The governments of Antigua and Barbuda and the People’s Republic of China
have signed an agreement to extend the Confucius Institute of Antigua and
Barbuda for a further five years.
The Institute has facilitated the teaching of the main Chinese language, Mandarin,
in two secondary schools in Antigua and Barbuda and elsewhere. So far, Mandarin
is being taught in two secondary schools, the Sir Novelle Richards Academy
(SNRA), where it started, and the Glanvilles Secondary.
Principal of the SNRA, Listine Bradshaw, said the programme is being extended in
the school to include the teaching of Kung Fu, the Chinese martial arts, which she
said is aimed at helping both the body and mind of practitioners.
Resident Ambassador to St. John’s, Zhang Yanling, said Antigua and Barbuda has
been a pioneer with respect to its relationship with the People’s Republic of China.
“Antigua and Barbuda is not only the first Eastern Caribbean country to establish
diplomatic ties with China, the first country in this region to join the Belt and Road
Initiative, but also the first to set up a Confucius Institute in the region.
“As we keep on promoting high-quality Belt and Road progress, the political and
economic cooperation between our two sides has been further strengthened, and
people-to-people exchanges expanded,” she observed.
Ambassador Zhang said along the way the CIAB has been focusing on enhancing
communication and understanding between friends through the Chinese language
of Mandarin and made continuous contributions to the successful arrangements of
the "Chinese Bridge" Mandarin proficiency competition for three consecutive
years, as well as to the other friendly bilateral activities.
Speaking at the signing ceremony at the SNRA, Parliamentary Secretary in the
Ministry of Education, Senator Shenella Govia, expressed gratitude to the
ambassador from the government and the people of Antigua and Barbuda for
helping to establish a branch of the Confucius Institute in the country. “We
recognize that language is an important aspect of our development and I am happy
to see that our students now have an opportunity to go beyond the traditional
foreign languages of Spanish or French to be able to learn Mandarin. I am
especially pleased that it’s the SNRA and Glanvilles where the programme started,
as this serves to give a boost to the relatively new educational institutions.
The signing of the agreement was done by Senator Govia, Permanent Secretary in
the Ministry of Education, Head of the CIAB, Gayle Greene-Phillip, Director of
the Harrison Centre, Antigua and Barbuda Institution of Continuing Education,
Arlene Weste, along with Professor Cao Renging of the Confucius Institute at the
Zhejiang International Studies University.
During the presentation, two students who are part of the Mandarin programme –
Joanna Humphreys and Olia Cambell – sang a song in Mandarin. There was also a
special Kung Fu demonstration by Dr. Wu Wei.
